For the past week, residents of Lucknow’s Indira Nagar have been having to live with foul-smelling, unclean water in taps. About 4,000 people who live in Blocks B, C and D are worried about the contamination since it may pose health risks.
Locals blame the Jalkal (water works) department’s poor maintenance practices and damaged pipelines close to the Kaleva crossing, as they live in constant fear of consuming contaminated water. Numerous households now regularly purchase bottled water to prevent diseases.
Vivek Singh, a resident, said, “The water supply smells like sewage water, and is yellow in colour. We need to buy clean water. How do they expect us to live? It’s a terrible situation for the previous week.
“Washing of clothes is also not possible with the water being supplied to our houses, much less drink it,” claimed Ankit, a resident of Block C, who claims that bathing in the supplied water is causing skin problems. “We’ve raised complaints with the local corporator and the Lucknow Municipal Corporation, but nothing has been done so far,” he said.
Akash Verma, another resident of Block B said that the water was not fit for drinking. “We are living in fear. We spend ₹300-400 daily on bottled water,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Akash Verma, another resident of Block B said that the water was not fit for drinking. “We are living in fear. We spend ₹300-400 daily on bottled water,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, SK Gupta, executive engineer of the area said, “We have taken samples of the water from the area to determine the cause of the pollution. We are optimistic that the breach will be found and fixed soon.”